The Bulk Of It
Bulk candy continues to be a huge opportunity for those retailers who can handle its critical maintenance.
Nearing the $1.5 billion
mark, bulk candy still has ample room for sales growth, according to
category experts. While retailers love its consumer appeal and 40-50
percent-plus profit margins, they quickly learn that keeping the category
in pristine condition is critical—and often difficult. Then again,
there are those specialty stores with businesses that have been thriving on
it. Retailers in the mass market—particularly food chains with very
stringent health code concerns in other areas of the store such as
meat—can do well with bulk candy if they learn to treat it as a
separate and special entity.
Imperatives
Bulk candy may be the best way to involve shoppers in
the candy section and keep them there buying more product than they would
if there were no bulk section. Shoppers love to pick their own assortment
and quantity. But freshness and cleanliness is priority one. Retailers
should be constantly checking out the latest technologies and offerings in
the category, such as gravity-fed dump dispensers and programs featuring
100 percent wrapped candies.
Consumers
Think bulk candy is not for your consumer? Think
again. Self-service is at an all-time high at retail with the popularity
and convenience of self-serve checkout lanes, other self-serve specialty
items such as ground coffee, ground peanut butter, soup and salad bars,
bagel and bakery kiosks. Today’s consumer is not only used to this
method of shopping, studies show that a great majority prefer it.
Therefore, retailers that apply the imperatives of other self-serve areas
to bulk candy have an even greater opportunity to build brand loyalty
(their store being the brand).
Adjacencies
Produce is a natural bulk-candy neighbor because
shoppers buy bulk candy the same way they buy produce: they choose the
quantity they want, weigh it, and put it in a bag. Alongside floral/balloon
departments is another natural adjacency because they are attractive, open
spaces where consumers can wander and store employees can regularly tend.
Outlook
With portion control treats in high consumer demand,
bulk candy sections are expected to thrive with the right merchandising.
What is most important now will remain so in its future
success—cleanliness and rotation.
Merchandising Musts
Cleanliness is next to bulkiness.
This can’t be stressed enough. If you can’t
keep it clean, you can’t keep it—period. The best way to
achieve this is to have a bulk service as well as store employees dedicated
to the section. One ensures category management and expertise in rotation,
the other ensures "always on call" tending.
Give it the sign.
Bulk candy sections that are successful can return
keystone profit margins. Those that are well-signed can take the category
even higher than that.
Forget the rainbow effect.
Experts in the category have discovered that color
patterns such as rainbows are very common to consumers and will not draw
exceptional attention. Some suggest that to really capture consumers’
interest, bulk candy displays should go light and dark in a random order.
This apparently will enhance the shopper’s sense of discovery and
pull their attention over to the display. Changing this light and dark
order from time to time is also recommended. Constantly keeping the area
visually exciting will keep it well visited.